Demountable rim.



1, s. GR EENE. DEMOUNTABLE RIM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 9|19l1.

Patented Feb. 26, 1918.

INVENTOR J3 firearm WITNESSES ATTORNEY JAMES B. GREENE, OF LOWNDESBORO,ALABAMA.

DEMOUNTABLE am.

Specification 0! Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 26, 1918.

Application filed July 9, 1917. Serial No. 179,483.

To all whom it mat concern:

Beit known t at 1, Jaime B. GREENE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lowndesboro, in the county of Lowndes and State of Alabama,have invented new and useful Improvements in Demountable Rims, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to resilient tires and wheels, and moreespecially to demountable rims for pneumatic tires; and the object. ofthe same is to produce a rim of this character which can be slippedlaterally off the wheel-felly, two nuts and two'spacing platesremovediand the rim knuckled or broken inward at one point to reduce itslength circumferentially so that the beads of the tire can be quicklydisengaged from the flanges of the rim' and the whole tire taken off ina few minutes.

Details of my preferred construction are set forth in the followingspecification, refe'rence being had. to the accompanying drawiniswherein igure lis a sideelevation of this rim and parts of a tire casingthereon and con nected therewith in full lines, the dotted lines showingthe rim as knucklcd or reduced in size so as to make it smaller than thec sing whereby the latter can be remove Fig 2-is an enlarged bottom planview of that portion of the rim in Fig. 1 which contains the knuckle ortoggle lever, one spacer andits nut being in place and the other removedand shown slightly in perspective.

The letter C designates a tlre casing of any type but which we mayassume has the usual beads along its edges. \Vithin it is an inflatabletube whose nipple N'is shown in Fig. l'as opposite that part of the rimwhich constitutes the feature of my invention.

I .Said rim is broadly designated by the letter R, and along its edgesit has inturned flanges F intended tov engage the beads on the casing ina manner wellunderstood. Thewheel is not illustrated, but its felly isof .a

sizejto fit closely within the rim when the latter is distended to itsfull size as seen in full lines in Fig. 1, and the telly will have inits outer face transverse grooves for the knuckles yet to be described.The felly will i also have at an appropriate point an openingthronghwhich the nipple N projects as usual; All these details are wellunderstood, and need no further illustration or description,

Coming now to the present invention, I make the rim R of metal and theside flanges F preferably integral therewith, and in its completedcondition this rim is entirely onnular and fits closely within thebeaded inner edge of the casin that the casing is 05 proper size to fitthe rim. At one point in the latter--at a. oint herein shown oppositethe nipple although this is not necessary-the continuity of the rim isbroken, and the break or ga is closed up by rim-sections or leaves 1 an2 which in effect form the links of a toggle joint as seen in dottedlines in Fig. 1. Each leaf is provided at its outer end with C, assumingof course knuckles 3 interengaged with other knuckles I 4- on the bodyof the rim R, and a pivot bolt or pin 5 passes through the. alinedknuckles as seen. These knuckles by preference project radially inwardas best seen in Fig. 1, and if so the periphery of the-felly must beprovided with channels or cross grooves to receive them; but the resultis that each leaf is connected'withthe body of the rim by a knucklejoint so that the leaf may fold inward but may not fold outward furtherthan to a position where it alines with the rim as seen in full lines inFig. 1. The meeting ends of said leaves are likewise pro vided withknuckles 6 and 7 interengaging with each other, and through them passesa pivot bolt 8 having both ends threaded as at 9. These knuckles alsomay be on the inner side of the body of the rim R, and will requiregroove orchannel in the folly like the others, but they do not producea, knuckle-joint because the flanges F are cut away to both sides ofboth ends of the pivot 8 as seen at 10 in Fig. 2. However, the togglejoint as a whole does not need .a.

knuckle joint at its center if it has knuckle joints at its outer endsas just described:

therefore, when this toggle is sprung outward as seen in full lines inFig. 1 its links.

comes smaller than the casing, and the beads of the latter can bedisengaged from the flanges of the rim, and the casing removed veryquickly.- Manifes'tlv. such'breaking of the rim can-not decor while thesome i819!!- the folly.

Onto each threaded end 9 of the pivot bolt 8 is slipped the eye 11 of aspacing block 12,and the latter is preferably flanged alon wits radiallyouter edge as at 13 and beve d at itsextrernities as at 14. Such beveling is to complement the cut'away or beveled 'flan'ges'al'ong the edges ofthe leaves 1 and 2, as indicated at 15 in 'Fig- I, where such bevels arein close contact with the bevels 14 of the block 12. Finally a nut 16.isapplied 'to the threaded ends 9 and set u tight to hold the block inplace, and when it-is so locked in place it prevents the accidental orpossibleknuckling or breaking of the rim when slipped off the folly,which mi ht occur before the workman was ready.

house of this device is as follows: Assuming that a tire needs repairs,the de' mountable rim R is first disconnected from the felly 'F on whichit will befastened by means not necessary to show herein as theyconstitute no .part of the present invention. It is then slippedlaterally off said felly at the lower side as seen in Fig. 1, and raisedslightly so that the nipple N comes out of thefelly ,at the upper side,the wheel of course at this time being jacked up off the round. Themotorist now removes the nuts 6, slips the spacing blocks off theextremities of the bolt 8, inserts any suitable tool, or perhaps hisfinger, between one of the leaves 1 or 2 and the tire C, and'prics thetoggle lever inward. Immediately it springs to the position shown indotted lines in Fig. 1, because we must assume that the air tube isdcfiatedand the casing C rather soft so .has been accomplished that itsleaves do not positively engage with the flanges I :otherwise it will benecessary -'for the motorist to disengage the beads and flanges alongthe leaves and on the rim ad'- jacent thereto.

The repairs to the tire are now made. We may assume that there isinvolved only the substitution of a new tube. \Vhcn this the tire isrestored to the rim by a reversal of the process given.

its beads engaged with the flanges thereof, 'the toggle lever sprungoutward, the entire structure put back on the folly, and the tubeinflated. During the handling of this rim after it has been taken offthe folly and be fore the casing is removed and again after the casinghas been reapplied before the rim is put back on the folly, the toggle,structure can not break inward acciden iofi tally or undesirably so longas the spacing blocks 12 are in place bccausctheirbeveled ends 14contact accurately with the beveled extremities of the leaves in themanner already described, and this I consider an imp'ortant feature ofmy invention.

What is claimed as new is: N

1; The herein described demountable rim comprising a body section flaned along bothedgcs and extending aroun nearly a complete circle, twoshort sections hinged to each other and to the ends of said body sectionand completing said circle, flanges along the edges of said shortsections cut away on both sides of the pivot between them, and spacingblocks detachably mounted on the ends of said pivot, shaped to fill outthe cut-away portions of the flanges, and themselves having flangesalining with the others when the blocks are in place.

2. The herein described demountablc rim comprising a body section flaned along both edges and extending aroun nearly a complete circle, twoshort sections hinged to each other and to the ends of said body 7section and completing said circle, flanges along the edges of saidshort sections cut away on opposite sides of the intermediate pivot andon diverging lines, spacing blocks whereof each has an eye to pass overone end of'said intermediate pivot and its ends beveled to fit saidcut-away flanges, and fits: tening devices on the ends of the pivot holdsaid blocks in place.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature. 9o

' JAMES B. GREENE,

